I originally got this duffle as a gift and purchased another one to gift to my brother because of the amazing quality. They don’t lie when they say its ultra light weight! I love how flexible this is and can easily fit anywhere when folded up. For 30 bucks, this duffle is a steal and you’ll find yourself relying on it for various uses. 12/10 would recommend!!

- RL Prinz

The build quality of this duffel bag is great. This bag was the perfect size for my 3 day / 2 night trip. The bag is heavy duty but yet light weight and I like that it is packable as well.

- Mark Jaco

The most compact duffle bag on the market. The Otavalo Duffle is 30L and blends ultra durable water resistant material with taped interior seams to keep your items dry. It packs away to the size of your palm in an attached storage bag. This duffle features vulcanized rubber on the zippers for added water resistance.

Traveling is considered as one of the best ways to discover who you are, and what you are capable of. May it be just to escape the everyday mundane life or to relax after a stressful couple of months or just to feed that adventure caving soul of yours, traveling is a must for everyone! Visiting new places, experiencing the scenic beauty, indulging in the local cruise, drowning oneself in the place’s rich history and culture are exactly what you need to re-evaluate your life and recharge yourself for the coming days.

But, do you know traveling also happens to be one of the most stressful scenarios a person has to deal with? You need to keep yourself and your traveling companion safe, pack and carry the right clothing items, take all the necessary documents/currency and at the same time keep it safe in the new place. These are just some common things that can stress you out and ruin your trip instantly. So, in order to minimize the stress and truly enjoy those few days, you need the right travelling items with you. Out of things like passport, money/travelling cheques, phone; duffel bags top this list! Without the right traveling bag there is no way you can enjoy your trip even if it is somewhere you already been before or even if it is an overnight business trip.

Now the question comes, why on earth something so nominal like duffel bags are so important when traveling? Well, this is because; traveling bags are one of the best ways to keep all your things safe and easily accessible. This will cut down any kind of worries like- if your shirt which you will wear in the conference is getting wrinkled or not, is my wallet safe and such others. Being organized is a must when travelling and the right bag will help you to do that too. A traveling bag is like a companion who is always there to help you out, and ensures that you are having the time of your life on this trip without any kind of worries about your personal belongings.

Now that you are somewhat familiar with the fact the travel bags have no other substitutes, you must invest in a high quality travelling bag that can take care of all your belonging for years to come. It cannot be that you have never searched or shopped for traveling bags online. So, you have already dealt with the frustrations that come with searching through thousands of travelling bags just to find that perfect one. This is something which you need to deal with as you just cannot buy a random travelling bag without giving any thoughts and expect it to perform as you want. But, do not worry as today we will look into some important things which will help you to pick the right duffel bag for all types and kinds of trips you are going to take.

Things you need to consider before investing in a travel bag

As discussed before, you need to take into consideration some factors before you start shopping for duffel bags. In order to make your online shopping for travelling bag a pleasurable experience, some of the crucial things that you should take into consideration before or during buying the bag of your choice have been mentioned next:

Place of Travel

Are you interested to buy a duffel bag for weekend trips or overnight business trip? Do you mostly go to quite beach holidays? Or do you like to get down and dirty while hiking up a mountain? The place where you are going is very important when it comes to choosing a bag. Suppose, you saw a deal on a travel bag made with canvas, and bought it. It will definitely serve the purpose but will look out of place when you are on a business trip. In fact, it can even hamper your professional image. So, before you buy the bag, do consider the type or kind of trip for which you are buying the bag for. To be safe, it will be best to go for a bag that looks appropriate in any kind of trip like a good leather bag.

Weekends vs Long trips

The next thing that you need to consider is for how many days you are planning to go on a trip. If you job requires travelling a lot, then you need sturdy medium sized travel bags that are big enough to carry that you need, and at the same time small enough to be carried with ease. On the other hand, if you only travel during summer vacations for many days, then you need a bag big enough to store all that you need during that long holiday. Many people forget to pay attention to this and they end up buying the wrong kind of bag. So, as a result, they end up with all the complications that comes with carrying the wrong bag.

Size of the Bag

Before you buy the bag, do keep in mind that all trains and airlines has a specific set of guidelines when it comes to the size of the carry-on. If an airline accepts a 2 feet wide duffel bag as a carry-on, you cannot change their mind even if your bag is just half inch bigger. So, if you travel a lot by a specific train or airplane line, then make sure you buy a carry-on bag that meets their demands and requirements to avoid any kind of hassle while travelling with them. You can log in to their official website or call up their helpline to know exactly what bags they consider as carry-ons, and up to which size is acceptable as carry-ons. This will surely help you to buy the right bag for your upcoming trips.

Color of the Bag

You must be thinking that color is a personal choice and you will buy whichever color you like when searching for the bag. How can you pre-determine which color to buy. Yes, this is understandable, but you also need to understand that not all colors go with every type of vacation. A bold neon color will help you to stand out on a cruise ship, but it will not look good when you are going back home for some days to attend someone’s funeral. Thus, it will be best to buy travel bags in different colors so that you are ready for any kind of trip or just go for classic colors like navy blue, black and brown that goes with everything.

Materials of the bag

This is one of the most important thing that you need to take into consideration. The original purpose of a travelling bags is to hold in all your stuff. Thus, you need to select such a bag that is made with durable and long-lasting material. If you choose a high-quality bag, then you can be sure of the fact that it will handle all the wear and tear and mishandling that comes with travelling. Finding a tough material is not that hard as most travelling bags are made with strong and durable materials. Still, it is advised that you research a bit about the materials used to make the bag before buying it.

Storage Space of the bag

Travelling bags will have extra storage space like extra pockets that can be both inside or outside of the bag. These extra pockets can be used to keep safe delicate or important items like documents, passport, watches or jewelry. The bag may also have a split pocket which can be used to store items like tablets, laptops, books or magazines, external chargers and such other thing needed while travelling. This helps to organize your luggage, and at the same time keep them safe from anything unwanted things like starches due to frictions or theft/pickpockets. So, when buying a bag make sure that it can also provide extra storage that suits your needs.

Brand of the bag

Many people think that if you buy branded things, then you can be rest assure that the bag is good. Here it is important to mention that even if branded travelling bags are of good quality, stylish and reliable; it might not be the right one for you. Thus, it is advised that before invest a huge sum on a braded bag, do make sure that it is the right one for you and your travelling plans.

Besides these, there are many other things that you need to consider before buying duffel bags for travelling. But, if you keep these few things in mind while buying the travelling bag, you will certainly be able to buy a suitable one for you.

Things to look out for when buying a travel bag

Besides the sheer number of travelling bags available online, another thing that can frustrate you will be the different functions and specifications of the different bags. As each bag is different from the next, a buyer tends to get confused which results into a wrong/useless purchase. The best way to avoid this will be selecting a duffel bag which has all the advantageous features seen only in the best ones. But, what are the features of a good travelling bag? Well to answer this question, next the different features of a capable duffel bag has been discussed in details for you:

Water Resistant

When you are travelling, you will come across a situation where you bag will come in contact with water. This is a quite common scenario, but if you are not prepared for it, then this little incident can turn into a huge disaster for you. For this reason, when looking for a duffel bag, do make sure that the material with which the bag is made up of happens to be water resistant. With a water resistant bag, you can be sure that all your clothes, personal items, electronic gadgets will be safe inside the bag. There are many travel bags that are not water resistant but comes with an additional rain cover. You choose those bags as well.

Wheels

There are two options which you can choose from. Either you can have a bag with or without wheels. With a bag that has wheels, you can be rest assured of the fact that no matter how heavy your bag gets or how much you have to walk, you can easily maneuver the bag. On the other hand, in many cases which requires extreme physical activities during the holiday, a travelling bag with wheels can be a problem. Thus, choose accordingly, so that you can enjoy the vacation without any hassle. Here it is important to mention that there are travelling bags that comes with detachable or retractable wheels. So, choose this kind of bags to enjoy all the benefits that comes with both wheeled and non-wheeled travel bag.

Zipper and locking facilities

Your duffel bags are there to lock away all your important personal belongings from thieves and pickpockets. But if the zipper is not strong and durable enough, then the items will fall off on its own or it can be easily broken into. This is the same reason why a strong locking system or a lock should be present on a travelling bag. So, when looking for a bag to buy, do make sure that the zippers are of good quality and the bag has a good locking system or provides a convenient place to place your own personal lock.

Comfortable to carry

No matter what plans you have for your holiday, you cannot avoid the fact that you have to carry the travelling bag for a long period of time. In most cases, you will be carrying the bag while doing other activities. Thus, it is a smart decision to buy such a bag that is known for being easy to carry. Look for key words like padding, thick handles and sleek designs. A bag with these features will mean that it has all the capability to provide the needed comfort. Here it should also be mention that there are some materials that can get too hot if left under the harsh sunrays for a long time. Similar, these are some materials which can freeze up in a place where the temperature is low. These materials will provide you discomfort in harsh climatic conditions, so stay away from these materials and choose handles and straps that do not react with the climatic changes.

Weight of the bag

Even though it is quite obvious that heavy duffel bags will be a huge pain to carry, still many people mistakenly buy a heavy travelling bag and suffers throughout the journey. You have to take into consideration the weight of your personal belongings with the weight of the bag to understand how heavy the bag will get. So, suppose the weight of the bag is 1 pound and the weight of all your personal belongings that you are taking with you on the trip is 1 pound (approx.). In such a case, the weight of the bag when you will be travelling will change from 1 pound to 2 pounds. Hence, when buying a bag do make sure that it is lightweight yet durable.

Guarantee/Warranty

Guarantees and warranties that are advantageous to the buyer are a common factor found in all the best travelling bags. They are not only a sign which suggests that the manufacturer has full faith on their products, but it is also a safety net which helps you to worry less about your bag. Thus, when buying a duffel bag, do look into this as the advantages that comes with this feature are far too many to neglect.

Other features

Some other features that are usually found in some of the best travelling bags are good stitching and/or use of strong glue, ability to maintain its structure, many pockets and compartments to store all kinds of items, some sort of ID tag and such others. These are some additional features that takes the value of the bag to a whole new level as they all come with their own set of advantages. Thus, when shopping for a bag, look for these additional features as well.

Beside these, there are many other features that a good travel bag may possess. But when shopping for the right one, if you keep these in mind and buy accordingly, then rest assured that your money was not wasted.

Common frustrations experienced while shopping for duffel bags and tips to avoid them

The main reason why most people fail to buy the right travelling bag for them is because of the frustrations they experienced during the shopping time. Dealing with so many types and kinds of travelling bags while keeping in mind all things that one need to consider or look out for when shopping for this kind of bag becomes too much to handle in most cases. Here these common frustrations along with easy ways to effectively overcome them have been mentioned next so that you can avoid them when purchasing your new duffel bags:

So many to choose from

Not only there are so many different travelling bags available online, but there are also so many different online stores/ websites that are selling great bags, and that too at a great price/discounts. This is a boon and a curse at the same time. As there are so many options to choose from, it is no surprise that most people get confused, and thereby more frustrated with the whole process of searching and buying that perfect travelling bag.

This can be avoided with ease. What you have to do is; before even starting your shopping take time to list down everything which you want the travelling bag to have. It can be as simple as black colored big bag to a detailed list like 2 inches deep with 6 different sized compartments in a lime green color. Having this list while shopping will help you to stay focused, and you will find the one you were looking for quickly.

Confused about what you want

Now the biggest problem you will face when shopping for a duffel bag of your choice will be what exactly you want the bag to have. If you think that you can pick some of the best features and expect the bag to be good, then know that this is not the case. Just because it is well-known bag or you know someone who recommended it, does not mean that it will work for your trip. This can be frustrating, but don’t worry as this can be avoided as well.

The key to deal with this frustration is proper research. Frist of all, you need research about the place which you are planning to visit. Is it hot there? How will I move around the town? After gathering a good idea about the place and/or the trip’s itinerary, all you have to do is read this buying guide again to figure out what are the things you need to consider and what to look out for before buying the bag. Conducting a proper research will take time, but the end result will be worth the effort and wait.

Different styles of duffel bags

When you will look into the different types of travelling bags available online, you will simply get frustrated by seeing the sheer numbers of different styles of bags available in the market currently. There are some with a sporty look, and then there are some which comes in a very elegant look. Lately, the vintage style has been making a lot of wave.

Even though it seems to be frustrating, but you can remove any confusion from your mind in a matter of minutes. First of all, you can pick a style that is popular. Read some fashion blog posts or magazines and you will find out about the latest trend and then buy accordingly. Then again, there is also an option to buy according to your own personal taste and preference, so that particular travelling bag goes well with your other luggage and outfits.

You have to understand the fact that without efficient and accurate travel bags, having a great trip is next to impossible. Hence, it is highly recommended that you take your time to go through this guide again while conducting your search and research about all the different bags you liked. This is because; this is the one of the fastest and easiest ways to find and buy the right bag for you.

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